Brekky Wrap: Explosives In New York And Saudi Prince On Khashoggi

All the news you need to know this Thursday.

Packages believed to contain explosives were sent to former US democratic presidents and the New York CNN bureau. A package was sent to the home of Bill and Hillary Clinton and another to the office of Barack Obama. Another package was sent to former CIA director John Brennan who is an outspoken critic of Donald Trump and a fourth was sent to the CNN bureau. All of the packages were intercepted and detonated and the entire CNN office was evacuated as a measure of caution. As the packages sent to the Clintons and Obama were intercepted early, they were in no danger of ever receiving them. The US Secret Service, along with New York and Washington police are working to determine who sent the packages.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi was a "heinous" crime and said those responsible for killing him will be bought to justice. "This was a very, very painful incident for all Saudis and also for everybody on this planet. It was unnecessary," he said. This is the first time the Crown Prince has spoken publicly on the matter since Khashoggi disappeared after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Image: Getty Images.

The European Parliament has voted in favour of a complete ban on single-use plastics across the union of countries in a bid to reduce ocean pollution. The ban includes plastic cutlery, plates, cotton buds, straws, drink-stirrers and balloon sticks. The parliamentary members also called for a significant reduction for food and drink containers including plastic cups. The ban will be enforced from 2021.

EU votes on a plastic ban. Image: Getty Images

Residents in the town where the body of Toyah Cordingley was found are undergoing DNA tests as police continue to search for the 24-year-old's killer. Cordingley's body was found on Wangetti Beach in far north Queensland on Monday after she took her dog for a walk on Sunday afternoon, but didn't return home. Police have said the DNA testing is standard procedure for an investigation of this nature.

Federal Labor has announced it will offer teaching scholarships to students who speak an Asian language. Native speakers of Hindi, Japanese, Mandarin and Indonesian will be offered a scholarship to study teaching in a bid to increase the amount of education staff with languages prominent in Australia's region. Labor said it will aim to offer up to 100 scholarships a year to students should it be elected to government in the next election.

Two of Ali's bachelors left The Bachelorette Mansion on Wednesday evening all due to the return of the dreaded double date decider. Ali invited Ivan and Bill on a double date, but only one of them would return. After intense talks and a failed dessert, it was Ivan that was asked to leave and Bill returned to the Bach-pad with a rose. Bill's arch-rival Charlie managed to snag extra time with Ali after the group date and so he headed into the rose ceremony with a rose as well. Sadly, it was 24-year-old Jules who left at the end of the episode. Read more about Wednesday night's episode here.

The Bachelorette TL;DR - Ep. 5

One person has won a record $1.6 billion USD in the US mega millions lottery overnight. The winner still remains anonymous and they managed to beat the odds of one to 303 million to win the jackpot. For the winner, options include an outright cash payment or the entire prize paid out over 29 years.